Skip to main content

Houston, We Have a Problem........

After all of this waiting and hoping, it turns out God and Mother Nature had other plans for us this week. Due to the horror wreaked by Hurricane Harvey, our trip to Houston has been postponed. While I am pretty bummed, and now in a tough spot concerning my treatment future, I feel like I can't really complain. The stories and photos coming out of Texas are gut wrenching. How can I possibly be upset when people are losing their possessions, homes, pets, and even their lives? My appointment will be rescheduled, hopefully for sometime really soon. 

This past week I have just been getting back into the work routine. The days are long and painful, but I wouldn't give it up for anything. I love being back in the classroom and laughing with my students every day. In fact, I got really bummed today when I was packing up. In my head I can do this for at least another 20-25 years. This stupid cancer better not ruin my plans. 

So as of now I am just in a holding pattern. I have my port appointment for next Weds, 9/6. Chemo is set to start with Dr. Adler next Friday, 9/8. If I cannot get into MD Anderson by then, I will start treatment here. It's been 2.5 months since I was diagnosed. I can't keep putting off treatment...my bones need some relief, and I need to know we are starting to fight this disease. That said, I did get a call from MD Anderson today saying they will be calling me soon to reschedule my new patient appointment. I have high hopes that I can maybe get an appointment early next week before my chemo date. I would be willing to put the port installation off a little bit if it meant getting to Texas and possibly into a clinical trial.

My hopes are high that things will still work out. At least we have a plan B that will be put into effect next week if necessary. 



Comments

  1. I am so proud of you. You have such a positive attitude that will take you through this struggle. You will be in that classroom for the next 20 - 25 years. You have more children to teach and share your positive attitude with.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beauty in Life and Death

This is Matt unfortunately Melissa did not get finish her last entry so I will take it from here.  I will try not to have any typos or grammatical errors.  Melissa would really not like that, but she was my official proof reader for all important documents. Melissa and I always strived to look for beauty even in the darkest of times.  It is not always easy but it is always there when you look hard enough.  Our situation the last year and half have not been ideal there were lots of tears and dark times, but the beauty was overwhelming. Whether it was a note, meal, flowers, or text a a low point or just the love we felt from family or friends.  The beauty was there.  We had so many people praying for us and for Melissa to beat cancer once and for all, but I also prayed that Melissa would be pain free and if it was God's will that she passed peacefully.  Melissa was in so much pain last year.  She did not let her slow her down but she was hurting...

It's Baaaaaaccccckkkkk.......

6 years.... that's how long it's been since I finished with active treatment. However, I took Tamoxifen for 5 years to squash any estrogen left in my body. I recently switched over to a "tougher" aromatase inhibitor call arimidex. These drugs provided comfort and faith that I was doing everything in my power to prevent a recurrence. Guess what?! They failed me. Big time. It's back, and it's back all over. After months of hip pain that my NP chalked up repeatedly to muscle pain, she finally sent me to an orthopedist. He took X-rays and did NOT like what he saw. Additional blood work and bone scans have led to the diagnosis of cancer pretty much throughout my skeletal system. Metastases were found in the skull, scapula, multiple ribs, pelvis, both hips, and spine. Definitely NOT the news I was expecting nor wanting to hear. After an afternoon of crying and occasionally feeling like I was going to throw up, Matt and I met with Dr. Adler, my oncologist. He was...

Buy a Hair

 When I talk about my cancer with people, my hair loss is inevitably brought up. And what my feelings on my hair loss are. From the second I was diagnosed, I didn't care about losing my hair. I would have given up anything I didn't NEED in order to live. Now that treatment is over, I'm fascinated by how it's growing in, what I look like, and how much fun it's going to be to experiment with short hairstyles. I'll be totally honest... in my more lucid moments, I was a bit terrified of what it was going to look like. I'm not out of the woods yet, but so far I don't think it looks half bad!!  People are constantly commenting on how I can pull the short pixie cut off. But let's be honest. What else CAN they say. Anyone would look like a giant jerk telling a woman who so recently finished cancer treatments that she looked terrible with short hair! So now I'm going to ask for feedback on what to do with it going forward. I've included three photos...